The Wicker Man

Robin Hardy
1973

This is an excellent example of how flexible the horror genre can be. Instead of relying on loud-noise shock scares, rubber monsters, or teens sliced to ribbons this one plays with atmospherics in a way that hack J-horror directors could only dream of. Working on a tip, a puritanical bobby investigates the disappearance of a teenager on an isolated Scottish isle. The peculiar locals claim to have no knowledge of the girl even in the face of mounting evidence (her empty school desk, a photograph in the pub), which only strengthens the do-gooding cop's resolve to get to the bottom of things. Considering that the gist of the picture is the enduring ability of old and pagan religions to overthrow enforced Christianity I'm a little biased in my appreciation of this one (Scandinavian Black Metal anyone?). The balance between overt petulance towards the flabbergasted officer, as in the school room where a foxy teacher instructs her female students on the phallic importance of the maypole celebration, and the subtler "playing-it-dumb" disobedience of the townsfolk strikes a perfectly malevolent tone: the surface is placid, but the secrets below are best left well enough alone. Seeing as how American productions have all but completely exhausted the appeal of murderous backwoods hillbillies it's a welcome novelty to see the British version (which is also brilliantly brought to the screen in Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs" (1971)). Finally it's worth noting that this is the only film to my knowledge in which Christopher Lee wears a dress.